1aRectoty-Aharoni

Rectory

The South Congregational Church Rectory, designed in a neo-gothic style by Woodruff Leeming, was built in 1893 and given landmark status in 1982. As a result of a dwindling congregation, the church, chapel and rectory were converted to residential use.

The rectory’s owners commissioned the studio to renovate the building’s two floors and unfinished basement. The resulting design accentuates the space’s extraordinary spatial volumes and transforms unused space into interior and exterior oases.

Formerly enclosed, the rectory tower opens onto the double high living room, creating an exhibition/installation space; a flat roof off the master bedroom becomes an urban garden overlooking the church steeples; and the unfinished basement: an intimate entertaining space that marries the couple’s extensive wine collection with the architecture.